Neil Gaiman: It’s an uncompromisingly adult film, with a child and her fairy tale inset into it as a contrast and echo. You start the film believing it to be Ofelia’s film, and you gradually discover that the adult story is not background but the story as well, and they move in tandem.

A.O. Scott: “Pan’s Labyrinth” is a swift and accessible entertainment, blunt in its power and exquisite in its effects. A child could grasp its moral insights (though it is not a film I’d recommend for most children), while all but the most cynical of adults are likely to find themselves troubled to the point of heartbreak by its dark, rich and emphatic emotions.

Stephanie Zacharek: Del Toro’s imagery is so vivid and concrete that it’s likely to change the color of your sleep…